A bite of the apple

When the inspiration for a poem strikes, it may demand that you stick rigidly to every detail as it was presented to you. It might, however, provide the impetus to write a poem but insist that certain details are changed, and that was the experience of Gill Hawkins of Wimborne, Dorset.

is a poem about anticipation, inspired by anticipating the fruit to come from a blossoming tree. The poet describes the experience: ‘A pear tree stands in one of the fields opposite our bungalow. This spring it was particularly stunning, it was swathed in white blossom, suggesting a bumper harvest. (I’ve been told these pears are not suitable for eating, they are cider pears. After